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I had a Great Aunt that would make baked coon and sweet tatters . I catch most of the varmits that get in my chickens one of the worst was a little mink . They will kill one bite a whole in the neck drink a little blood then go to the next very quite and keep killing until they get tired of it or somthing spooks them .
 
I had a Great Aunt that would make baked coon and sweet tatters . I catch most of the varmits that get in my chickens one of the worst was a little mink . They will kill one bite a whole in the neck drink a little blood then go to the next very quite and keep killing until they get tired of it or somthing spooks them .
I'm not sure if coon would be good or not, but I'll try it if I catch one of them in my henhouse! I've hear several people telling me stories about loosing every bird in one night. I'll start checking the pound/shelters soon for a couple collie type dogs soon to help prevent it.
 
Never had coon before, but I do have some cookbooks that have a few recipes on them. If your interested, I can look them up for you and you can let me know how it turns out. :)
Well, I've never had possum either, but you never know what tomorrow brings! If you throw in some roasted veggies, add some gravy and have a chunk of bread on the side you can make any varmit edible.:confused:
 
Possum and coon are both post TEOTWAWKI table fare at best . That being said some times I get a notion to try out my preps . Not sure my Wife will go along with this one .
 
Possum and coon are both post TEOTWAWKI table fare at best . That being said some times I get a notion to try out my preps . Not sure my Wife will go along with this one .
You know what they say: If you don't eat it now, don't prep it for later.
 
Was walking around the yard this morning and heard a rukus and one of my Brown Red game hens that runs lose on the yard has a batch of 1/2 batam chicks and a little Copper Hawk flew in to snatch one and that little game hen whipped the tar out of it . It flew past me with empty talons and beak .
 
Food for her Psalm's!! Gotta love the way momma bear comes out when protecting her chicks. My neighbor lost one of his pet squirrels last week due to a hawk.
 
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Racoons have came back , they have killed 7 chickens . They found away into our chicken house . I started trapping them and have caught 5 large predators . Thought I had them all but found tracks this morning . My farm is in a valley between a curve in the mnt range and the hollers in the mnts run into 2 creeks my property is between these 2 creeks . nice location and good hunting but the varmits follow hese creeks also . I havnt replaced my gard dogs yet . My dog lots are next to my chicken lots and that always protected my chickens .
 
What type of fencing/netting are you using for the henhouse? Regular chicken wire is just too weak, I always find, so I end up going with the half inch grid instead. That keeps pretty much anything out. (at least so far).
 
1" Mesh woven steel wire and corrigated tin . Its strong but they dug under and 1 pulled at a door till he got into a stall . Most of my chickens only stay in there at night and run free during the day . The dogs would run them off even though they couldnt get to them befor they found away in .
 

Ok that was a risky search "Chick sexing" Hope this helps tho.
Are you gona post more chick pics before you kill them? and then maybe one of you skining them:eek:. I think you should eat the ducks then get some geese at least they work as guard's dogs, The farm geese chase my car every day.

lol i want to see someone skin a chicken!
 
my dad has a few hens that are getting up in age and coming up on there last eggs they will ever lay! i cracked one the other day that had no yolk! was straight egg white! great for bad cholesterol lol
 
One of our friends is a vegetarian, but she'll eat our eggs because she knows they are farm-raised and never fertilized (we don't keep a rooster). The low cholesterol would be cool to count on though, for the no yolk ones, hehe.
 
One of our friends is a vegetarian, but she'll eat our eggs because she knows they are farm-raised and never fertilized (we don't keep a rooster). The low cholesterol would be cool to count on though, for the no yolk ones, hehe.
I wish I could be a vegetarian as they tend to live longer. It's just not in my DNA though.
 
Not sure vegetarains live longer . The few I know have few motor skills and cant figure anything out without detailed instructions .
 
I saw a
Not sure vegetarains live longer . The few I know have few motor skills and cant figure anything out without detailed instructions .
I saw a documentary about the longest living cultures on the globe. Almost all ate mostly a plant based diet. Not really vegetarians, but meat was an occasional thing and not the norm. They also had really well connected family and social groups. Funny, in the most advanced countries the life spans were not even close to the top of the list.
 
I saw a
Not sure vegetarains live longer . The few I know have few motor skills and cant figure anything out without detailed instructions .
I saw a documentary about the longest living cultures on the globe. Almost all ate mostly a plant based diet. Not really vegetarians, but meat was an occasional thing and not the norm. They also had really well connected family and social groups. Funny, in the most advanced countries the life spans were not even close to the top of the list.
 
Im sure if you count Countrys that keep actual and accurate records the Nations with the highest standards of living and longest life spans would be well fed Americans , Brits and Germans .
The comment on the motor skills and detailed instructions was joke/jab as most of the vegians I know are young just out of High School with the activist/hippie view of life that are working their first job in most cases .
 
The comment on the motor skills and detailed instructions was joke/jab as most of the vegians I know are young just out of High School with the activist/hippie view of life that are working their first job in most cases .

Almost EVERY vegan/vegetarian, I ever knew, is no longer one. Eventually, they realized we're meant to eat at least some meat. There are still a few holdouts, but only the ones who do it more for morality regarding animals, vs. the ones who proclaim to do it for health. I get it, some of what we do is downright sick, but all life consumes other life to live. Just the way life is designed. We didn't make the rules, but we do have to follow them.
 
I am almost a pescatarian. That's a vegetarian who also eats seafood, dairy products and eggs. I might have chicken, a hamburger or a slice of ham or some bacon once or twice a month. I can see into the future that I'll be eating more chicken though. This is what came in my mail today, 60 straight run chicks, so my crystal ball shows me many jars of canned rooster in about 6 months!
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I have one old hen setting on 13 eggs . Her and her rooster are the last I have from a strane of game chickens that have been around since pre Civil War .
Next Spring we are going to order a dozen buff orphanton pullets to replinish our laying chickens . My Wife wants some buff colored hens . If our Dominecker rooster is still around any offspring will be brass colored barred doms .
 
I am almost a pescatarian. That's a vegetarian who also eats seafood, dairy products and eggs. I might have chicken, a hamburger or a slice of ham or some bacon once or twice a month. I can see into the future that I'll be eating more chicken though. This is what came in my mail today, 60 straight run chicks, so my crystal ball shows me many jars of canned rooster in about 6 months!
View attachment 4466
Aint that the truth!! A buddy of mine bought some straight run chicks and he ended up with a little over half of them being male. . . I was luck enough to get a couple of them cause my hunny helped on slaughtering day and he just didn't have enough freezer room.
 
I like canned chicken for soups and casseroles or battered and deep fried for chicken "nuggets" for the grandkids. I intentionally ordered straight run because you normally will get 50% cockerels. I keep them under light 24 hours a day to grow them faster, pulling out the pullets and any roosters I want to keep alive as they become obvious. My plan with this batch is to sell about a third as pairs to make some money, can a third and keep a third for breeding. My grandkids will each choose a pair to raise for show. I have some interesting breeds in this batch - red-shouldered Yokohamas, black Sumatras, silver duckwing Phoenix and some others. I also got about a dozen Cochin for meat/egg production. Of course, I still have my original 3 chickens - Rhode Island Red, Pioneer and Buckeye hens and kept 1 RIR hen from my first hatch. I have 9 RIR chicks that are being sold this coming weekend.
I've had some awesome luck hatching turkey eggs that I purchased from a friend, so I have 7 Bourbon Reds that I'm keeping until I know whether they are hens or toms. I'll keep a trio of those and sell the rest. I also got 3 bronze poults that are sold to the same man who is getting my RIR.
I have an adorable pair of chocolate and white call ducks that serve no purpose except to make me laugh when they quack because it sounds like they are laughing. I have a trio of Muscovy and I'll raise their offspring for meat production also. If you've never tried Muscovy, also known as "Barbary Duck" once it's dressed, you are seriously missing out. They are a red meat bird and it tastes like a tender sirloin when cooked on the grill.
I also have both brown and white Chinese geese. They won't produce for me until next year and they are strictly for income. The goslings sell for good money around here. I won't eat them because they are way too greasy. They are also excellent "guard dogs" sounding the alert whenever something or someone comes along.
 
I saw a documentary about the longest living cultures on the globe. Almost all ate mostly a plant based diet. Not really vegetarians, but meat was an occasional thing and not the norm. They also had really well connected family and social groups. Funny, in the most advanced countries the life spans were not even close to the top of the list

I think there are other factors here. I'm betting such peoples live in mostly agrarian village groups, without the complications, and exposure to chemicals, etc. as first world populations.
 
I think there are other factors here. I'm betting such peoples live in mostly agrarian village groups, without the complications, and exposure to chemicals, etc. as first world populations.
No doubt. We expose ourselves to so many toxins in this country. It's no wonder our cancer rates are so bad. The thing that suprised me is how much we mess with our food. My favorite story ever was how the FDA said pink slime was safe and good. Then the company hired the FDA person responsible for the rulings as an executive advisor when they left the agency. We take normal healthy food, and change it everyday. We can make it tast better, last longer, and look better. It all comes with a price though.
 
My old game hen hatched 5 little biddies , they are almost quail size now .
Im repairing alot on my chicken house . Its a roll of stalls on one side and a tool shed on the other with a slanted flat roof .
 
We're down to only 6 laying hens at this time. We started out with 14 that we let free range, but over the last 2 years the predators killed one every couple of months. Now we only let them out of their enclosed run when we're outside too. When we get moved (our finial move) out to our BOL I'll build a large coop that will have meat chickens on one side and laying hens on the other. The run will be about 50' x 100' with netting over the top to keep the flying predators out.
 
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